"Oh, this is it." Ma Peng took down a large piece of paper from the newspaper rack of the cooperative, which was full of words.
"What does it say?"
"It's all kinds of news: from Bairen City, Dongmen City and the whole county. Recently, there's also business news from Guangzhou Prefecture." He turned over the back page, "These pages are all about little raps and the like. Things are very beautiful.”
Fu Buer didn't know how to read, so naturally he couldn't understand the benefits. He brought it back to the people in the village who could read - it was a rare thing. To be careful, he added a question:
"There are no objectionable words here, right?"
"No, several copies of this newspaper are delivered to the county government office every day. If you want one, take one and the conference representatives will read it for free," said the female clerk.
Fu Buyer felt relieved. He carefully folded a portion and hid it on his body. He walked around the store again and saw a lot of fine silks and foreign cloths, so he wanted to buy some back. There were copper coins, broken silver and circulation certificates in it. Fu Buer bought a few pieces of foreign cloth and asked the domestic boy to hold it. When he saw that the pattern the female clerk drew on the account book while thinking about it was similar to the pattern on his own brand, then There are also these on the so-called towels. I remembered that Ma Peng said that these are called Arabic numerals, and they are much easier to use than Suzhou numerals for accounting, so I became interested. I looked there for a long time and even talked to the clerk for a while - It turns out that this woman has only been able to read and learn arithmetic in the past few months. Now she can not only do an abacus, but also keep accounts.
"The boss lady is such a kind-hearted person!" The female waiter was obviously very satisfied with her treatment. "Food and clothing are all included, and she also teaches. I can also get a hundred yuan in commission from sales every month."
Fu Bu'er saw that this shop was very impressive, and the clerks were well-mannered and seemed to be literate, able to write and do calculations. He couldn't help but be moved - he had several teenage boys and girls at home. , except for beating pigs and grass and herding cattle, it is of no use. Why not send him here to be an apprentice? After learning the skills, it will be of great help to him. I immediately asked Ma Peng if he would accept apprentices here, and how many children he would be willing to send here. Apprentices also pay for their food expenses.
"I don't know about this." Mapeng said, "After the meeting, you can talk to the leaders yourself. If you want to send someone to study, it is probably a sure thing."
After coming out of the cooperative, Fu Fuji followed Ma Peng for a few rounds in Dongmen City. Not only was the street clean and tidy, there was not even a single beggar or gangster, and even the prostitutes standing on the street soliciting customers were well behaved. Standing neatly under the special yellow wooden pole sign, although he kept making teasing remarks, he did not forcefully pull the passers-by.
Police officers dressed like Ma Peng can be seen on the street from time to time. It seems that they are wandering around the street all the time. No wonder it is so peaceful here.
"There are no people like this here," Mapeng told him. "If they are caught, they will all be sent to the quarry to quarry stones or go to the river to sift sand. It is hard to say whether they can come out." He laughed triumphantly, very Satisfied with their prestige. The yellow signboard is the place where prostitutes only stand on the street. There are eight signs in Dongmen City. Prostitutes who want to solicit customers have to line up under that sign. The first one has done business, and the next one can take over. When soliciting customers, you are not allowed to jump in line.
"The elders are very considerate of the old and the poor. This prostitute doesn't even accept donations. She only needs to get a certificate to do business here."
Fu Buer took a closer look, and sure enough, every prostitute had a sign hanging on his chest that was similar to his, except that it was yellow.
Seeing Fu Fuji looking at her, the prostitute immediately put on a charming smile and said, "Master, come and play there. I'll take all the copper coins, silver, and bills."
Ma Peng scolded: "Go, go, stop soliciting, this is a conference representative."
The prostitute seemed to be quite afraid of the policeman, so she pursed her lips and remained silent.
Fu Buyer asked Ma Peng: "What is this note? The cooperative shop also asked me if I had it."
"It's money notes. It's also called circulation coupons here. All merchants in Dongmen City use these." He took out a few colorful pieces of paper from his pocket.
"Can you buy something with this piece of paper?" Fu Fuji didn't believe it.
"This is what we pay, how can it be false?"
Fu Bu'er studied these pieces of paper for a long time and murmured to himself. He remembered hearing from the elders in the clan that the imperial court also issued such paper money tickets many, many years ago. At that time, the government would buy things.
The people were forced to accept this kind of money, but they refused to accept it when paying taxes. No matter how many words were written on the paper, they would not be able to buy anything in the market. The people regarded this as waste paper. When he remembered it, it seemed
It's called Bao Chao or something.
"Brother Ma, will this thing work? The government has done it before. It's worthless waste paper." Fu Buyer lowered his voice and said.
"Of course it works. One yuan can buy a catty of rice. You can buy it anytime." Ma Peng looked very unhappy with his question, "So many merchants in Dongmen Market are fools? Don't think this is the case.
The Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes issued by the government. These are issued by the chiefs."
From what he said, the short-haired people were much more trustworthy than the Ming government. But Fu Buer didn't think the government had any credibility at all. He was just surprised that Ma Peng would believe so wholeheartedly in this group of "Kun people" with unknown origins.
”.
"This is the Delong Grain Store. They are the ones who issue the circulation coupons." Ma Peng said, pointing to a large shop in front. This shop is more impressive than the cooperative just now. It is located on the second floor of the three-story building.
It is a brick building, with wide windows lavishly decorated with beautiful cast-iron patterned railings. The door is very large, with two stone lions placed on the left and right in front of the door. This style cannot even be compared to the county government office.
"Brother Ma, why are there no people buying and selling grain in this grain store?" Fu Buer was seriously doubtful.
"This is the counter. Those who deliver goods go in through the door on the side. There is a big yard inside, it's huge."
Fu Buer felt a little timid when he saw the formation of the grain store. If it weren't for the horse tent nearby, he probably wouldn't have dared to go in. There was a very tall hall inside, with a row of wooden counters like those in a pawn shop, but
It's just not that high. The windows are wide and big, and the light coming in is so abundant that he is very uncomfortable. All he can hear is the sound of the abacus. Darling, the battle in this grain store is quite scary.
There is a wooden sign hanging on the wooden counter on the far left. Ma Peng told him that this is the exchange office. The shop collects circulation coupons. If you don't want them, you can take them here and exchange them for grain chips. You can exchange them directly in the yard.
It’s rice.
"One yuan can be exchanged for a pound." Ma Peng took out a green note. The so-called big pound means that the pound of 500 grams is heavier than the pound in this time and space, so it is named big pound.
Fu Buer knew a little about the big catty thing, because when he sent the long-term workers to sell grain, the long-term workers came back and said: The short-haired people do not use buckets, but use scales to weigh directly. At that time, in order to help the indigenous people
To find out how much a kilogram is, every large household that came to sell grain received a standard stone weight weighing one kilogram. Fu Buer still has that stone weight in his house, ready to use it when he sells grain next year.
After looking over and over some of Ma Peng's bills for a long time, Fu Fuji was still a little confused. He didn't know how this piece of flower paper could be used. He vaguely realized that the key was that this piece of paper could be exchanged here.
Grain. That’s why merchants are willing to accept it.
"It's really an eye-opener." Fu Fuji became more and more determined to send a few domestic boys as apprentices. Needless to say, there were more of these short-haired ones than others. But he thought again.
If all the domestic boys are trained, what will the son do? Can he still fight against them? If he has a bad boy, wouldn't it be difficult to protect the family property? Those people in the clan may not be reliable. But he must give his son away
He really couldn't bear to be an apprentice.
After coming out of the grain store, I did a lot of sightseeing in Dongmen City. Everything I saw was new and interesting. I secretly felt that I had come to the meeting this time. This little experience alone was enough to keep me going back for three to five years.
When he saw the red clouds filling the sky and it was getting late, he wanted to go back to the hotel. But Ma Peng wanted to treat him to dinner:
"Dong Fu's family, I've eaten a lot from you in the past, so this time it's mine."
Fu Buer thought that this poor boy was a little more prosperous now, so he must have wanted to look good in front of his past boss, so he just followed him. Besides, he had to say some things at the dinner table, so he agreed immediately and dismissed them first.
The house boy goes back to the hotel.
The far end of the side street of Dongmen Street is far away from the city center and is close to the outskirts of Dongmen City. There are not many pedestrians and it is very quiet. There are some small shops opened here, serving the members and workers of Bairen City.
Our business. There were several small restaurants and taverns, all lit up at this time. Ma Peng usually had nothing to do after work, so he drank and chatted with a few colleagues here. Sometimes the director, Dugu, would come to join in the fun.
I became acquaintances with the shopkeeper and the waiter.
This is a small restaurant, very small, with only six tables. There are plates of cold dishes on the wooden cabinet at the entrance, mostly local seafood, covered with bamboo cages, and there is also a jar of salted water boiled peanuts - these
They are all served as snacks.
Ma Peng entered the store and asked the waiter to find a seat for them inside. He ordered four dishes, a pot of wine, and two bowls of fish porridge. The two of them pushed glasses and exchanged cups for a few times, and Fu Buer was finally satisfied.
Get to the point:
"Now you are also a policeman here in Short Hair. Are you living a good life?"
"That's much better than doing the work." Ma Peng said, "The currency reform has just been carried out recently. A police officer like me can get 200 yuan a month, which can buy 200 kilograms of rice. My mother and I
We are all well fed and can even buy some new clothes and so on." He took a sip of wine and said, "I, Ma Peng, have been working as a laborer since I was twelve years old.
!This day is really like a dream!"
"That's it, that's it." Fu Bu'er wanted to find out the details of this meeting, so he kept drinking and serving food, and said a lot of flattery. Seeing that the atmosphere was already heated, he asked:
"Brother Ma, why do you think this short-haired leader wants us people from all over the country to come to the meeting?"
Ma Peng shook his head and said: "How could I know! The leaders are thinking deeply, we don't understand."
Fu Bu'er felt slightly disappointed and deliberately used words to provoke him: "Short-haired guy usually doesn't show even a hint of his words when he talks? You can be considered their confidant."
"What kind of confidant am I?" Ma Peng laughed: "Far from it. Let's just talk about our strengths. He is not a big shot among the short-haired people. I heard that he can't get involved in discussions among the top leaders.
." He took a sip of wine, "But this time the leaders took the matters to be discussed very seriously and specially built some kind of grand viewing platform. They also ordered us to take good care of the village representatives - anyway, they want to satisfy you.
.”
Fu Buer saw that there was a door and quickly struck while the iron was hot: "You can always guess something, right?"
Ma Peng thought for a moment and then said: "It's probably a matter of 'cooperation'. I don't understand what cooperation means. But what the leaders mean is that each village should jointly organize team exercises and train together. That's it.
There are other "benefits" to be given to each village. As for what the benefits are, I don't know."
"You didn't say anything about sending food and missions, right?" Fu Buer didn't care about the so-called benefits - if Shorthair didn't force them too much, it would be a sign of mercy from the Emperor.
"I haven't heard of this, but there is a shortage of manpower here, and we need people to organize group training. About the time of the meeting, we will ask each village to send people. Food, I don't think it is needed. There is plenty here."
This is easy to handle. Fu Buer thought, if he was sending a mission, at most he would send a few people from the village with foreign surnames who had settled down, and it would not hurt any bones in the village.
Fu Buer took out a piece of silver and quietly handed it to Ma Peng from under the table:
"Brother Ma, this is just a small thing. I ask you to take more care of the village in the future. We are all fellow villagers -"
This ingot of silver has one or two weights. Although it is not rich, it is not a small number for ordinary people. This time, the village council came up with twenty taels of silver for him to use in Bairen City.
Ma Peng quickly refused: "No, no, Fu Dongjia, you are harming me! Take it back quickly."
Fu Buer thought he was just pretending to be evasive, but when he saw Ma Peng's face full of panic, it was obviously not an act, so he had to take the money back.
Ma Peng quickly looked around, and when he saw that no one was paying attention, he continued in a low voice, "Dong Fu's family, Shorthair hates this the most. I'll take your money, even if you smash your job, put it away quickly."
Fu Buer said: "What are you afraid of? Heaven knows and earth knows, you know and I know -"
"The problem is that the chiefs know everything." Ma Peng said something fearfully. A policeman in the station collected money from several shops. Unexpectedly, Director Dugu found out the next day. Then the man disappeared.
Yes - I heard that he is now working as a coolie in a quarry.
"The weird thing is that no one else was present except for them - they say the leaders have the power of ghosts and gods. I don't dare to do this."
Fu Fuji also told him that his spine felt chilly, and he thought of many strange things about short-haired people, which made him feel a little hairy in his heart.
At this time, the waiter brought the fish porridge, and also brought a plate of crispy fish to drink with the porridge. Since Ma Peng had to work half a shift after dinner, he didn't drink much and wolfed down the porridge.
The second one said he was full after drinking the porridge. After dinner, Ma Peng took out the money and checked the account, and Fu Buer thanked her profusely. The two of them went out together and disappeared into the lights and crowds after dusk.
The waiter here cleared the table, and Goubuli stood up from behind the counter and got into the cabinet. He took out a piece of paper, a bottle of ink and a quill from the locked cabinet, and used it crookedly under the candle.
's simplified Chinese characters wrote a line:
"Surveillance report on the meeting between Dongmen City Police Station police officer Ma Peng and Meizhi Village representative Fu Buer in the store."